third story(ies)
Menu
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • HOUSE TOUR
    • PROJECT ADDITION / “PROJECT BACK POCKET”
  • LET’S EAT
  • (STORY)TIME
  • AROUND TOWN
  • MAKING
  • ADMIRING
    • blogs i love
Menu

this week in the garden

Posted on August 16, 2018 by thirdstoryies

New schedules this week. E is back to school now, and she starts so early. F is back with grandparents for the week, so she’s probably sleeping in each day. That means I’m up early – to run or drive to school or just generally make sure E’s up and at ’em, but then I find myself with a lot of quiet time between that activity and work. It’s nice.

I planned to get up and run this morning, but we stayed up too late last night together, and it was supposed to rain, so I shifted my schedule to run after work and I got a little more sleep. But when I woke up it was so lovely outside, and I felt a little pang of disappointment at missing my chance. I don’t get that feeling a lot so I sat with it for a minute before shifting my thoughts. Sometimes I get pretty rigid in how the schedule of a day is going to play out, and I needed to remind myself that I can be flexible in the ordering, and the act of flexibility doesn’t represent the loss of opportunity.

I think part of that disappointment is tied to this transition point, even when the transition feels gradual. We didn’t move from a schedule of summer leisure to one of school scrambling – there’s not a huge difference in how our weeks look, except that the kids stay in one place instead of jumping from camp to camp each week. But it’s still a different schedule, and the days are getting noticeably shorter – by minutes a day, but it’s still there. Yesterday was so rainy and wet that it felt like the sun was never going to come up. So I know that when F returns, my morning runs during the week are a thing of the past – at least until next summer. So there is some sadness there as there always is in the shifting. Maybe there’s some melancholy hiding there from the recent birthdays – older years and new grades at school. Time keeps moving on, and it’s not a slow pace.

Most of these photos are from the garden this past Saturday. It was warm and humid, even at seven in the morning.

I didn’t intend to take so many photos, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s second nature to me now, when I’m there. Yesterday morning, after dropping E off at school, I had a few hours to myself before work. It was pouring rain, but I knew that I still wanted to walk. I headed to one of our favorite breakfast places, and they asked where the kids were. Just me this morning, and a book. I ate and drank coffee and read a few chapters, then headed back out in the heavier rain.

It poured for the entire walk, but I still tucked my camera in the crook of my arm and kept my umbrella close. I walked the entire garden, and took about fifteen total shots, but only three or so were halfway decent. I mostly just listened to the sound of the water hitting my umbrella and waited to see if I would pass anyone else but I didn’t. The place was mine, and I wandered for another hour there.

When I talked to F on the phone last night, she wanted to know all the details of my day, so I told her. I described the quiet of my morning, what I ordered for breakfast, how empty the paths were, how wet my shoes were, even after sitting by my desk for the entire workday. I told her it was a treat to walk in a rainy garden, and worth the dampness. I told her I missed her yellow umbrella bobbing along in front of me – I kept looking for it, expecting to see it there. I’m looking forward to her return, a different kind of quiet in the garden, the darker mornings, slow to rouse, the shift of colors and sky and breeze.

1 thought on “this week in the garden”

  1. Sue J. says:
    August 16, 2018 at 11:53 am

    these views are so pretty and uplifting to us, your loyal readers.
    hope you are finding real joy here.
    that orange bug is fantastic. I want a raincoat just like it.
    print these and do a collage. something gigantic.
    every house needs a little summer all the year long.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Welcome!

Welcome.

This is a blog about an old house with a new life (and all the lives within it). There are plenty of stories to tell.

Recent Comments

  • Kristin on project files: phase one renovation begins
  • AshleyM on project files: phase one renovation begins
  • Sue J. on slow spring
  • Cindy on gumball machine crafts (my rookie pinterest moment)
  • thirdstoryies on admiring: relax tabletop collection
  • Eileen Allison on gumball machine crafts (my rookie pinterest moment)
  • Marla on admiring: relax tabletop collection
  • Sue J. on for real, for real
  • Becky collins on noticing
  • Sue J. on noticing
August 2018
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Jul   Sep »

Recent Posts

  • project files: appliance decisions
  • project files: exterior demolition
  • project files: phase one renovation begins
  • august priorities
  • slow spring

Archives

Categories

  • (story)time
  • admiring
  • general
  • holiday story(ies)
  • house tour
  • let's eat
  • letters to my loves
  • local haunts
  • making
  • party(ies)
  • project addition
  • renovation
  • Uncategorized
©2022 third story(ies) | Design by Superb